According to the source, bankers hope that a new review of anti-money laundering rules could result in the authorities being more lenient with cases of dirty money slipping through the net, as long as the banks can prove they took tough action to try to stop it happening.
The industry is under huge pressure to make sure it does not offer a channel to fraudsters and terrorists to make use of their ill-gotten gains. While such drastic action helps protect banks from legal action, it also means innocent customers are cut off from, for example, sending money to their families in other countries.
As well as hurting banks’ customers, it also hits government efforts to reduce poverty in developing countries. In addition, it can drive money transfers into parts of the financial system which are less closely monitored than banks, and so make it harder for the authorities to spot when dirty money is being transferred.
As a result, banks hope they will be able to come to an agreement with the authorities whereby banks which do make a proper effort to stop prohibited transactions will be treated more leniently when bad transactions do make it through, in recognition of the need for a balance between the competing factors.
The government is expected to launch a review of the anti-money laundering regime in the coming weeks as part of the Chancellor’s Productivity Plan, presenting an opportunity to consider such a change.
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